Heirs of the Promise
The “promise of the Father” is the gift of the Spirit, and Paul links it to the Abrahamic covenant. Its promises find their fulfillment in the new covenant inaugurated by Jesus. The bestowal of the Spirit marks the commencement of the age of fulfillment, and “in Christ,” Gentile believers are now full heirs of Abraham.
Moreover,
the Apostle equates the “promise of the Spirit” with the “blessings
of Abraham.” The
original covenant always envisioned the inclusion of the Gentiles, a point Paul
uses when contending for the acceptance of Gentile believers in the covenant
community without requiring circumcision.
All men
and women who belong to Jesus are “Abraham’s
seed, heirs according to promise,” and “in
Christ,” the old divisions between “Jew and Gentile” no longer apply.
In fact, they are wholly inappropriate.
CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM
The
inclusion of the Gentiles is not an afterthought but was always integral to the
original covenant. And the gift of the Spirit is received from faith. It is not
based on circumcision, or the other rituals required by the Torah -
(Galatians 3:1-4, 3:14).
- (Ephesians 1:13-14) – “In whom, you also are hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing, were sealed with the Spirit of the promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of the acquisition; for his glorious praise.”
The Spirit
is the “earnest,” the “down payment” that guarantees our
participation in the full inheritance, and the references in Ephesians
to the “inheritance” and “acquisition” allude to the original
promise of land made to Abraham.
Thus, Paul connects the gift of the Spirit to the covenant with Abraham, including its promise of territory - (Genesis 17:8).
Likewise, Jesus called the gift
of the Spirit the “promise of the Father.” And before his ascension, he
commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit,
then they would become his “witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth”
- (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4).
PROPHECY FULFILLED
In his sermon
delivered on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declares that the outpouring of the
Spirit is according to the prophecy in the book of Joel - “In
the last days, God will
pour out His Spirit on all flesh”
- (Genesis 17:7-10, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:38-39).
The presence of the Spirit in the church demonstrates
that the “last days” are underway, the era of fulfillment that will
continue until the return of Jesus.
The gift
of the Spirit is how men and women receive the “blessings of Abraham.”
By the Spirit, men from every nation find themselves blessed with faithful
Abraham – heirs of the promises and members of the covenant community.
The
actualization of the promises began with the outpouring of the Spirit on
Pentecost. Since then, every man and woman who receives the gift becomes a “child
of Abraham,” and therefore, the old boundary dividing Jew from Gentile is
wholly inappropriate in the community formed by Jesus Christ - (Galatians 3:27-29).
CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART
The Mosaic
legislation itself anticipated the need for something beyond the Law. The Torah
cannot complete what God began with Abraham, and inevitably, Israel violated
the covenant.
However, as
Moses warned, after chastisement and repentance, the nation would “return to
Yahweh and obey His voice,” and God would gather His people from all
nations and “circumcise their hearts to love Him” - (Deuteronomy 30:1-6).
The themes
of renewal and circumcision of the heart are taken up by the prophet
Jeremiah. God “will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the
house of Judah,” but not like the covenant that He made at Sinai.
With the outpouring of the Spirit, God is writing His laws in the hearts of His people, and the promised circumcision of the heart is being realized in the body of Christ - (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:6-13).
The book
of Ezekiel adds the aspect of the Spirit to the “new covenant.”
When Yahweh gathers the children of Israel, He will put “a new spirit”
in them, and thereby, He will “cause them to walk in His statutes.”
Ezekiel combines
the promises of Spirit, circumcised heart, and New Covenant. Thus, the
covenant promises are linked to and dependent on the receipt of the Spirit - (Ezekiel 36:16-28, 37:25-28, 2 Corinthians 3:1-6).
Consistently,
the New Testament applies the promises made to Abraham to the gift of the
Spirit that is now granted freely to Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus.
And that
gift is labeled the “promise of the Father” and the “blessing of
Abraham.” It is the identifying sign of the people of God, and the Spirit
provides believers with the power to walk in the New Covenant and fulfill the “righteous
requirements of the Law.”
